(PHP 5)
str_split — Konvertiert einen String in ein Array
Konvertiert einen String in ein Array.
Die Eingabezeichenkette.
Maximale Länge eines Teilstücks.
Wenn der optionale Parameter split_length angegeben ist, enthält das zurückgegebene Array Elemente mit der in split_length definierten Länge, andernfalls enthält jedes Element ein einzelnes Zeichen.
FALSE wird zurückgegeben, wenn split_length kleiner als 1 ist. Wenn der Parameter split_length größer als string ist, wird der gesamte String als ein erstes (und einziges) Array-Element zurückgegeben.
Beispiel #1 Beispiel für die Verwendung von str_split()
<?php
$str = "Hallo Freund";
$arr1 = str_split($str);
$arr2 = str_split($str, 3);
print_r($arr1);
print_r($arr2);
?>
Das oben gezeigte Beispiel erzeugt folgende Ausgabe:
Array
(
    [0] => H
    [1] => a
    [2] => l
    [3] => l
    [4] => o
    [5] =>
    [6] => F
    [7] => r
    [8] => e
    [9] => u
    [10] => n
    [11] => d
)
Array
(
    [0] => Hal
    [1] => lo
    [2] => Fre
    [3] => und
)
I needed a function that could split a string from the end with any left over chunk being at the beginning of the array (the beginning of the string). 
<?php
function str_rsplit($str, $sz)
{
    // splits a string "starting" at the end, so any left over (small chunk) is at the beginning of the array.    
    if ( !$sz ) { return false; }
    if ( $sz > 0 ) { return str_split($str,$sz); }    // normal split
    
    $l = strlen($str);
    $sz = min(-$sz,$l);
    $mod = $l % $sz;
    
    if ( !$mod ) { return str_split($str,$sz); }    // even/max-length split
    // split
    return array_merge(array(substr($str,0,$mod)), str_split(substr($str,$mod),$sz));
}
$str = 'aAbBcCdDeEfFg';
str_split($str,5); // return: {'aAbBc','CdDeE','fFg'}
str_rsplit($str,5); // return: {'aAbBc','CdDeE','fFg'}
str_rsplit($str,-5); // return: {'aAb','BcCdD','eEfFg'}
?>
here an equivalent function for unicode string :
<?php
function uni_strsplit($string, $split_length=1)
{
    preg_match_all('`.`u', $string, $arr);
    $arr = array_chunk($arr[0], $split_length);
    $arr = array_map('implode', $arr);
    return $arr;
}
The manual don't says what is returned when you parse a different type of variable.
This is the example:
<?php
$str1 = "Long"; // More than 1 char
$str2 = "x"; // Only 1 char
$str3 = ""; // Empty String
$str4 = 34; // Integer
$str5 = 3.4; // Float
$str6 = true; // Bool
$str7 = null; // Null
$spl1 = str_split($str1);
$spl2 = str_split($str2);
$spl3 = str_split($str3);
$spl4 = str_split($str4);
$spl5 = str_split($str5);
$spl6 = str_split($str6);
$spl7 = str_split($str7);
echo count($spl1); // 4
echo count($spl2); // 1
echo count($spl3); // 1
echo count($spl4); // 2
echo count($spl5); // 3
echo count($spl6); // 1
echo count($spl7); // 1
print_r($spl1);
print_r($spl2);
print_r($spl3);
print_r($spl4);
print_r($spl5);
print_r($spl6);
print_r($spl7);
/*
Array
(
    [0] => L
    [1] => o
    [2] => n
    [3] => g
)
Array
(
    [0] => x
)
Array
(
    [0] =>
)
Array
(
    [0] => 3
    [1] => 4
)
Array
(
    [0] => 3
    [1] => .
    [2] => 4
)
Array
(
    [0] => 1
)
Array
(
    [0] =>
)
*/
?>
For those it may concern:
We encountered trubble when trying to str_split a UTF-8 encoded string, containing such Swedish letters as å, å and ö.
It seems that this function splits according to byte-length and not character length. So if the letter "Å" takes 2 bytes, then str_split() will only return the first bite of the character "Å".
We ain't 100% sure that this is the case but this was anyhow the result we got. So we used the multi-byte functions instead.
Regarding ricordatis comment on preg_match_all('/./u',...) instead of preg_split('//u',...):
You'll have to use the pattern '/./us' with preg_match_all to get exactly the same behaviour w.r.t. newlines. Don't know if this is still faster, though. Oh, and the expected result is in $array[0].
revised function from tatsudoshi
Fixed some bugs, more php5 style compliant
<?php
if(!function_exists('str_split')) {
    function str_split($string,$string_length=1) {
        if(strlen($string)>$string_length || !$string_length) {
            do {
                $c = strlen($string);
                $parts[] = substr($string,0,$string_length);
                $string = substr($string,$string_length);
            } while($string !== false);
        } else {
            $parts = array($string);
        }
        return $parts;
    }
}
?>
To split unicode text, preg_match_all('/./u', $text, $array); seems faster for large strings than the use of preg_split('//u', $text); suggested by "edgaras dot janusauskas at gmail dot com" below.
the fastast way (that fits my needs) to replace str_split() in php 4 i found is this:
<?php
if(!function_exists('str_split')) {
  function str_split($string, $split_length = 1) {
    $array = explode("\r\n", chunk_split($string, $split_length));
    array_pop($array);
    return $array;
  }
}
?>
i also tested the provided functions in the comments..
(the differences are 0.001 to 0.00001 sec)
This function supportes utf8 
(improvement of function str_split_php4)
i tried this function successfully with these languages
1- Chinese 
2- Japanese
3- Arabic
4- Turkish
5- Urdu
6- Russian 
7- Persian
<?php
function str_split_php4_utf8($str) {
    // place each character of the string into and array
    $split=1;
    $array = array();
    for ( $i=0; $i < strlen( $str ); ){
        $value = ord($str[$i]);
        if($value > 127){
            if($value >= 192 && $value <= 223)
                $split=2;
            elseif($value >= 224 && $value <= 239)
                $split=3;
            elseif($value >= 240 && $value <= 247)
                $split=4;
        }else{
            $split=1;
        }
            $key = NULL;
        for ( $j = 0; $j < $split; $j++, $i++ ) {
            $key .= $str[$i];
        }
        array_push( $array, $key );
    }
    return $array;
}
?>
A good use of str_split is reverse translating an amino acid sequence.
<?php
/* reverse translate an aa sequence using its dna counterpart */
function reverseTranslate($aaSeq,$ntSeq){
  $nt=str_split($ntSeq,3);
  $aa=str_split($aaSeq,1);
  $gapChar=array('*','-');
  $numAa=count($aa);
  $ntIndex=0;
  $newNtSeq="";
  for($i=0;$i<$numAa;$i++){
    // if the aa is a gap, then just put on a gap character
    if(in_array($aa[$i],$gapChar)){
      $newNtSeq.='---';
    }
    else{
      $newNtSeq.=$nt[$ntIndex];
      $ntIndex++;
    }
  }
  return $newNtSeq;
}
?>
Response to "Richard Ayotte 18-Jan-2008 09:27":
Slight tweak to prevent the need to call another preg_replace, there were also some bugs in this that I'm surprised didn't get noticed (causing duplicate replaces between the preg_replace calls) :)
Please feel free to optimize further. I'm not the best with lookahead/behinds yet. I also removed the :upper/lower: and it seemed to speed things up too.
<?php
$test = 'CustomerIDWithSomeOtherJETWords';
preg_replace('/(?!^)[A-Z]{2,}(?=[A-Z][a-z])|[A-Z][a-z]/', ' $0', $test));
?>
Shaves off a little time anyway. :)
Syntax corrected version:-
<?php
    if(! function_exists('str_split'))
    {
        function str_split($text, $split = 1)
        {
            $array = array();
            
            for ($i = 0; $i < strlen($text); $i += $split)
            {
                $array[] = substr($text, $i, $split);
            }
            
            return $array;
        }
    }
?>
Slight mod to the CamelCaseFormat regex that behaves better with strings with multiple upper case letters immediately following each other.
CustomerID -> Customer ID and not Customer I D
<?php
$test = 'CustomerIDWithSomeOtherJETWords';
preg_replace('/(?!^)[[:upper:]][[:lower:]]/', ' $0', preg_replace('/(?!^)[[:upper:]]+/', ' $0', $test));
?>
Customer ID With Some Other JET Words
Version of str_split by rlpvandenberg at hotmail dot com is god-damn inefficient and when $i+$j > strlen($text) [last part of string] throws a lot of notice errors. This should work better:
    if(! function_exists('str_split'))
    {
        function str_split($text, $split = 1)
        {
            $array = array();
            
            for ($i = 0; $i < strlen($text);)
            {
                $array[] = substr($text, $i, $split);
                $i += $split;
            }
            
            return $array;
        }
    }
The previous suggestion is almost correct (and will only working for strlen=1. The working PHP4 function is:
<code>
function str_split($text, $split = 1){
    //place each character of the string into and array
    $array = array();
    for ($i=0; $i < strlen($text); $i++){
        $key = "";
        for ($j = 0; $j < $split; $j++){
            $key .= $text[$i+$j];  
        }
        $i = $i + $j - 1;
        array_push($array, $key);
    }
    return $array;
}
</code>
dacmeaux at gmail dot com's version might work well for a $split value of 1, but above that, it just repeats the one character per array field and based on the $split value. The following does it right:
<?php
function str_split_php4( $text, $split = 1 ) {
    // place each character of the string into and array
    $array = array();
    for ( $i=0; $i < strlen( $text ); ){
        $key = NULL;
        for ( $j = 0; $j < $split; $j++, $i++ ) {
            $key .= $text[$i];
        }
        array_push( $array, $key );
    }
    return $array;
}
?>
this function can perform a reverse str_split. I write it for PHP4 but you can rename It for other versions..
if ( !function_exists('str_split') ) {
function str_split($string,$split_length=1){
    $sign = (($split_length<0)?-1:1);
    $strlen = strlen($string);
    $split_length = abs($split_length);
    if ( ($split_length==0) || ($strlen==0) ){
            $result = false;
            //$result[] = "";
    }
    elseif ($split_length >= $strlen){
        $result[] = $string;
    }
    else {
        $length = $split_length;
        for ($i=0; $i<$strlen; $i++){
            $i=(($sign<0)?$i+$length:$i);
            $result[] = substr($string,$sign*$i,$length);
            $i--;
            $i=(($sign<0)?$i:$i+$length);
            if ( ($i+$split_length) > ($strlen) ){
                $length = $strlen-($i+1);
            }
            else {
                $length = $split_length;
            }
        }
    }
    return $result;
}
}
in response to Sam's CamelCase function:
<?php
$test = 'CamelCaseFormat';
echo preg_replace('/(?!^)[[:upper:]]/',' \0',$test);
?>
i use this in PHP4
function str_split($str){
   return preg_split('//',$str);
}
Even shorter version:
//place each character (or group of) of the 
string into and array
function str_split_php4($sText, $iSplit = 1)
{
    $iSplit=(integer) $iSplit;       // sanity check
    if ($iSplit < 1) {  return false; }
    $aResult = array();
    for($i=0, $limit=strlen($sText); $i < $limit; $i+=$iSplit) {
        $aResult[]=substr($sText, $i, $iSplit);
    }
    return $aResult;
}
I was looking for a function that would split a string into an array like str_split() and found Razor's function above. Just though that I would simplify the code a little.
<?php
function str_split_php4($text, $split = 1){
    //place each character of the string into and array
    $array = array();
    for($i=0; $i < strlen($text); $i++){
        $key = NULL;
        for ($j = 0; $j < $split; $j++){
            $key .= $text[$i];  
        }
        array_push($array, $key);
    }
    return $array;
}
?>
Both mine and worksRazor's work well, I just prefer to use less code. I could have written one myself, but I was just being lazy.
A good way to use this method to convert CamelCase text into nice text would be-
<?php
        /**
         Returns a formatted string based on camel case.
         e.g. "CamelCase" -> "Camel Case".
        */
        function FormatCamelCase( $string ) {
                $output = "";
                foreach( str_split( $string ) as $char ) {
                        strtoupper( $char ) == $char and $output and $output .= " ";
                        $output .= $char;
                }
                return $output;
        }
?>
To split unicode text, use preg_split('//u', $text);
Here is what I use. I started with examples here but modified to my own version:
<?php
if (phpversion () < "5"){ // define PHP5 functions if server uses PHP4
function str_split($text, $split = 1)
{
if (!is_string($text)) return false;
if (!is_numeric($split) && $split < 1) return false;
$len = strlen($text);
$array = array();
$s = 0;
$e=$split;
while ($s <$len)
    {
        $e=($e <$len)?$e:$len;
        $array[] = substr($text, $s,$e);
        $s = $s+$e;
    }
return $array;
}
}
?>
how I can conwert
$string
 '1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 13, 23'
from ENUM at mySQL to
$array
[0] -> false
[1] -> true
[2] -> true
[3] -> false
[4] -> false
[5] -> true
[6] -> true
[7] -> false
[8] -> false
[9] -> false
[10] -> true
[11] -> false
[12] -> false
[13] -> true
[14] -> false
[15] -> false
...
[23] -> true
<?php
function enum_to_array($psEnum)
{
    $aReturn = array();
    $aTemp = explode(', ', $psEnum);
    for ($i = $aTemp[0]; $i <= $aTemp[count($aTemp)-1]; $i++)
    {
        $aReturn[$i] = in_array($i, $aTemp);
    }
}
?>
@razor: this'll work for php4
<?php
$str = 'two words';
$array = explode("\r\n", chunk_split($str,1));
?>
heres my version for php4 and below
<?php
function str_split_php4($text, $split = 1)
{
    if (!is_string($text)) return false;
    if (!is_numeric($split) && $split < 1) return false;
    
    $len = strlen($text);
    
    $array = array();
    
    $i = 0;
    
    while ($i < $len)
    {
        $key = NULL;
        
        for ($j = 0; $j < $split; $j += 1)
        { 
            $key .= $text{$i};
            
            $i += 1;    
        }
        
        $array[] = $key;
    }
    
    return $array;
}
?>
Problem with the post below me is, that the string can not contain the splitter "-1-".
Btw, here's my version.
<?php
function strsplit($str, $l=1) {
    do {$ret[]=substr($str,0,$l); $str=substr($str,$l); }
    while($str != "");
    return $ret;
}
?>
I noticed in the post below me that his function would return an array with an empty key at the end.
So here is just a little fix for it.
<?php
//Create a string split function for pre PHP5 versions
function str_split($str, $nr) {   
             
     //Return an array with 1 less item then the one we have
     return array_slice(split("-l-", chunk_split($str, $nr, '-l-')), 0, -1);
      
}
?>
//fast & short version od str_split PHP3, 4x
function string_split($str, $nr){     
    return split("-l-", chunk_split($str, $nr, '-l-'));
}
//example :
print_r(string_split('123412341234', 4));
If you are looking for a way to split multibyte strings then this may come in handy:
<?php
$text  = "süpérbrôsé";
function mb_str_split($str, $length = 1) {
  if ($length < 1) return FALSE;
  $result = array();
  for ($i = 0; $i < mb_strlen($str); $i += $length) {
    $result[] = mb_substr($str, $i, $length);
  }
  return $result;
}
$solo = mb_str_split($text);
$quintet = mb_str_split($text, 5);
print_r($solo);
print_r($quintet);
?>
Spits out:
Array
(
    [0] => s
    [1] => ü
    [2] => p
    [3] => é
    [4] => r
    [5] => b
    [6] => r
    [7] => ô
    [8] => s
    [9] => é
)
Array
(
    [0] => süpér
    [1] => brôsé
)
If you use PHP 4 and don't need the split_length parameter, here's the shortest replacement:
<?php
preg_split('#(?<=.)(?=.)#s', $str);
?>
A simple way to split credit card numbers into chunks of four numbers:
<?php
echo implode(' ',str_split($card_number,4));
?>
<?
//fast & short version od str_split
function string_split($str)
      {
        $str_array=array(); 
        $len=strlen($str);
        for($i=0;$i<$len;$i++) $str_array[]=$str{$i};
        return $str_array;
       }
//example :
var_dump (string_split("split this"));
?>
found this great example on a php board for those not using php5, as an alternative to the posts below this
<?php
if(!function_exists('str_split')){ 
    function str_split($string,$split_length=1){ 
        $count = strlen($string);  
        if($split_length < 1){ 
            return false;  
        } elseif($split_length > $count){ 
            return array($string); 
        } else { 
            $num = (int)ceil($count/$split_length);  
            $ret = array();  
            for($i=0;$i<$num;$i++){  
                $ret[] = substr($string,$i*$split_length,$split_length);  
            }  
            return $ret; 
        }      
    }  
}
?>
if (!function_exists("str_split")) {
    function str_split($string, $length = 1) {
        if ($length <= 0) {
            trigger_error(__FUNCTION__."(): The the length of each segment must be greater then zero:", E_USER_WARNING);
            return false;
        }
        $splitted  = array();
        while (strlen($string) > 0) {
            $splitted[] = substr($string, 0, $length);
            $string = substr($string, $length);
        }
        return $splitted;
    }
}
Note to function by carlosreche at yahoo dot com.
The while:
<?php
...
               while ($str_length--) {
                   $splitted[$i] = $string[$i++];
               }
...
?>
.. result in index starting at 1.
Ie: str_split("ABC") gives
Array
(
    [1] => A
    [2] => B
    [3] => C
)
While php5's str_split("ABC") gives
Array
(
    [0] => A
    [1] => B
    [2] => C
)
And his str_split("ABC",2) gives index starting at 0.
Change to this (or something similar):
<?php
...
               while ($str_length--) {
                   $splitted[$i] = $string[$i];
                   $i++;
               }
...
?>
.... or use heavyraptor's function. A bit more sclick,..
I think that the last post by carlosreche at yahoo dot com is too complicated.
It's much easier if you do it like this:
<?php
if (!function_exists("str_split")) {
  function str_split($str,$length = 1) {
    if ($length < 1) return false;
    $strlen = strlen($str);
    $ret = array();
    for ($i = 0; $i < $strlen; $i += $length) {
     $ret[] = substr($str,$i,$length);
    }
    return $ret;
  }
}
?>
I hope it helps for those with PHP <5
For those who work with PHP < 5:
<?php
if (!function_exists("str_split")) {
    function str_split($string, $length = 1) {
        if ($length <= 0) {
            trigger_error(__FUNCTION__."(): The the length of each segment must be greater then zero:", E_USER_WARNING);
            return false;
        }
        $splitted  = array();
        $str_length = strlen($string);
        $i = 0;
        if ($length == 1) {
            while ($str_length--) {
                $splitted[$i] = $string[$i++];
            }
        } else {
            $j = $i;
            while ($str_length > 0) {
                $splitted[$j++] = substr($string, $i, $length);
                $str_length -= $length;
                $i += $length;
            }
        }
        return $splitted;
    }
}
?>
The very handy str_split() was introduced in PHP 5, but a lot of us are still forced to use PHP 4 at our host servers. And I am sure a lot of beginners have looked or are looking for a function to accomplish what str_split() does.
Taking advantge of the fact that strings are 'arrays' I wrote this tiny but useful e-mail cloaker in PHP, which guarantees functionality even if JavaScript is disabled in the client's browser. Watch how I make up for the lack of str_split() in PHP 4.3.10.
<?php
// cloackEmail() accepts a string, the email address to be cloaked 
function cloakEmail($email) {
// We create a new array called $arChars, which will contain the individula characters making up the email address. The array is blank for now.
    $arChars = array();
// We extract each character from the email 'exploiting' the fact that strings behave like an array: watch the '$email[$i]' bit, and beging to fill up the blank array $arChars
    for ($i = 0; $i < strlen($email); $i++) { $arChars[] = $email[$i]; }
// Now we work on the $arChars array: extract each character in the array and print out it's ASCII value prefixed with '&#' to convert it into an HTML entity
    foreach ($arChars as $char) { print '&#'.ord($char); }
// The result is an email address in HTML entities which, I hope most email address harvesters can't read.
}
print cloakEmail('someone@nokikon.com');
?>
###### THE CODE ABOVE WITHOUT COMMENTS ######
<?php
function cloakEmail($email) {
    $arChars = array();
    for ($i = 0; $i < strlen($email); $i++) { $arChars[] = $email[$i]; }
    foreach ($arChars as $char) { print '&#'.ord($char); }
}
print cloakEmail('someone@nokikon.com');
?>
 
In creating this little utility, I demonstrated how the lack of str_split() can be made up in PHP < 5. If you got how it was accomplished, you could write a function to do exactly what str_split() does in PHP 5 and even name it 'str_split()'. :)
[Editor's Note: Or just: php.net/wordwrap]
This is a little function to split a string into shorter strings with max lenght $n in such way, that it don't split words (it search for spaces), it's usefull for articles or sth.
Result is put in $ttab variable, and function result is number of "pages".
<?php
function divide_text($text, $n, &$ttab) {
    
    $ttab = array();
    $l = strlen($text); // text length
    $cb = 0;    //copy begin from..
    $p = 0; // parts
    
    if ($l  <= $n) {
        $ttab[0] = $text;
        return 1;
    } else {
        $ctrl = 1;
        while(((($p-1) * $n) < $l) && ($ctrl < 100)) {
        $crtl++; // control variable, to protect from infinite loops
        
        $tmp = substr($text, $cb, $n);
        
        // we're looking for last space in substring
        $lastpos = strrpos($tmp," ");    
        
        if ( (is_bool($lastbool) && !$lastpos) || ( $l - $cb <= $n)) {
            $ttab[$p] = $tmp;
                        
        } else  {
            $tmpgood = trim(substr($tmp, 0,$lastpos));  // if they were another spaces at the end..
            $ttab[$p] = $tmpgood;
            $cb += $lastpos + 1 ;
            
        }; // if
        $p++;
        }; //for
        return $p;
    }; // if
    
} // divide text
?>
This functionality is now implemented in the PEAR package PHP_Compat.
More information about using this function without upgrading your version of PHP can be found on the below link:
http://pear.php.net/package/PHP_Compat